Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels could not end his losing skid Wednesday against the Indians, dropping a third straight start and losing for the fourth time in five outings as Cleveland beat Philadelphia, 10-4. Hamels opened with two scoreless innings before the Indians scored five times over the next three innings.
Hamels, who was plagued by a high pitch count, gave up a solo home run to Mike Aviles in the fourth inning and a two-run homer to Nick Swisher in the fifth inning. Hamels (1-6) allowed five runs on six hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out four. The Phillies are 1-8 in his starts.
Hamels needed 91 pitches to get through four innings and reached 100 in the fifth.
"We drove his pitch count up early," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "We made him earn his outs and we scored early. It's great to work the count and have something to show for it."
The left-hander will be back on the hill Monday at Miami. Hamels is 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA in two starts against Miami this season.